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Waste PET-derived biofilm carriers for aerobic wastewater treatment: Biofilm development, growth kinetics, and simultaneous nutrient and microplastic removal
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Scientists turned old plastic water bottles into a home for helpful bacteria in wastewater treatment tanks, creating a system that cleaned water more effectively than other materials tested. This upcycled-plastic approach removed over 90% of microplastics along with excess nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus, which is important because these pollutants can otherwise flow into rivers and oceans, contributing to the microplastic contamination increasingly found in our food, water, and even our bodies. It's a promising example of turning plastic waste into a tool for cleaner water rather than more pollution.
Increasing demand for wastewater treatment technologies has highlighted the need for biofilm systems capable of removing nutrients and emerging contaminants while promoting resource circularity. This study proposes an aerobic Upcycled PET Biofilm Carrier Reactor (UPBCR) that valorizes waste PET bottles as biofilm media, integrating polymer selection, biofilm development, nutrient transformation, and microplastic retention. A polymer-selection strategy compared biofilm formation on PET, HDPE, and PMMA. PET exhibited the highest biofilm-supporting capacity, with a biofilm thickness of 428.83 μm, biomass accumulation of 1.33 mg/cm 2 , and a biofilm formation rate of 0.0657 mg/cm 2 ·day. The PET carrier was applied in an aerobic UPBCR operated under organic loadings of 200–600 mg/L COD. Microbial growth kinetics were described by the Monod model, yielding a maximum specific growth rate (μ max ) of 2.72 day −1 and a half-saturation constant (Ks) of 78.72 mg/L. The system achieved removal of NH 4 + (76.59%), TKN (77.02%), total phosphorus (86.54%), orthophosphate (88.74%), and microplastics (91.25%). Nitrogen removal was driven by nitrification and microbial assimilation, while phosphorus removal was associated with orthophosphate uptake and polyphosphate accumulation. Microplastic retention occurred through biofilm entrapment and sludge settling. These findings demonstrate that recycled PET-based biofilm systems provide a platform for nutrient and microplastic control in wastewater treatment.
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Scientists turned waste plastic (a biodegradable type called PHB) into a tool that cleans nitrogen pollution from wastewater, removing over 94% of it in tests. This "waste treats waste" approach could help solve two problems at once: plastic waste and water pollution, potentially reducing environmental contamination that affects drinking water and ecosystems humans depend on.
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